His Slave Her Master

Part 36 Angel

"We're leaving." Valentino announced, grabbing my hand before I could even utter a word. The look of anguish on his face was heartbreaking. Elba had betrayed him. She had gone back to the woman who had made Valentino endure many years suffering alone as punishment for her having fled.

The moment I heard about this Gina, I had felt sorry for her. Yes, she had lied and manipulated, and yes perhaps she was selfish, but in the end she was only human like me. Her being brought here and manipulated by the ancient ones had broken her, changed her. Valentino was able to fight against it because he is much stronger, but Gina wasn't, and if I'm honest, if it had been me in her shoes, having the love of her life threatened then killed anyway, I would most likely have fled also.

"Wait." I said quickly and Valentino raised an eyebrow, his eyes urgent. "Let her at least explain herself."

"Natalie, don't be stupid." Valentino hissed.

I recoiled at this. "I'm not being stupid, I'm trying to understand, Val! Something you should try and do more often."

Now he was the one recoiling. "She ruined our lives, Natalie. Hadn't she of left, you wouldn't be in this situation!" He indicated to my stomach that I, on instinct, pressed my palm to.

"I wouldn't be alive." I spat. "The only reason I'm here, on this land and on earth, the only reason I was born, is because the ancient ones wanted me to be. Had Gina of stayed, you would be forced into a marriage that would set the mates bond in place. You would grow to love her and she would eventually bear your child, only for the two of you to be forced to give it up to the ancient ones for slaughter."

"You mean like now?" Val said darkly.

I took a step back. "Our baby will not die." I said in a voice that reminded me very much of my mother's. It was one she had used when my secondary school refused to do something about the girl who had been bullying me. She had been livid that someone was harming her baby girl.

Val shook his head. "It's that or you."

My disgust at his words was plain on my face. "You can go. Get controlled by the ancient ones again for all I care. Because I haven't lost hope, and can't stand to be by someone who has."

I was sick of crying over it. I wanted to do something about it.

Valentino was conflicted. He looked ready to grab me and run, when at the same time he didn't want to go against his wife's, his mate's, wishes.

Just as Valentino looked ready to say something, a door behind me opened, and by the sudden darkening of his eyes, I knew exactly who had walked through.

Turning around, I was met with a pair of brown eyes so big they were childlike, however unlike a child's eyes, they held no innocence. No, the age lines around her eyes and forehead suggested she was most likely in her late thirties, early forties, with a mass of brown curls reaching past her shoulders. She wore a large coat and heavy winter boots, her hair flecked with snow in places, her lips red and chapped. This was not how I had imagined Gina, the woman who had captured the heart of Elba and the original vampire King and almost Valentino.

She attempted a smile, but with Valentino behind me, breathing like an angry bull, the action was hard to perform. Instead, she took my hand that lay limp at my side and kissed my knuckles once, twice, and again.

I was frozen, unsure of what to do or say. It was because of this woman that I was here. It was because of her fleeing that I was alive. I wasn't sure wether to be angry of thankful.

"You are very lovely." She said in a shaky voice, her accent not quite human like mine, most likely from living here so long. I wondered where she had originally come from. "Like an angel."

I blushed at her words, pulling back my hand gently that she still held. I had no idea what to say to this woman, especially now that she was stood right before me.

Her brown eyes traveled down to my stomach where they stayed. "How wonderful."

She sounded like mad woman with the way she talked. I wondered what she had had to endure, out on the run with no place to hide.

"I was to have a baby once." She said, sounding almost in a trance. She looked up at me, her gaze so intense I wanted to look away. "Yes. Yes-a very strong baby that would do wonderful things."

Is that what the ancient ones had told her? Clever of them not to mention the part where they would kill the child.

Her face suddenly turned grey, her eyes troubled. "But I ran. I ran so fast and far that I don't remember where I ended up. And my husband-" she broke down into a sob.

I watched stunned as Elba quickly ran to her side and slowly helped her over to the sofa. The love they shared was evident in the way they held onto one another. I wondered how Elba felt hearing about her lovers passed husband who she had left her for many years ago.

Valentino came up to my side, the two other woman too absorbed in each other to give us a second glance.

"She's hurt." I croaked out, my hands tightening into fists at the thought of everything that this woman has been through. "We need to show them that this is not okay."

"I agree." Valentino said tightly. "But I don't trust her."

Not giving my husband a seconds glance, I approached the two other women. Elba looked up as Gina gently rocked herself back and forth, her hands covering her face as she muttered incoherent words.

Crouching down, I placed a hand on Gina's shaking one, causing the other woman to look up in fright.

"It's okay." I said gently. "It's just Natalie, I won't hurt you."

"T-the man." Gina struggled out. "The golden man, I want him gone."

I looked behind to see Valentino glaring down at us. When our eyes met, my heart clenched and he looked away.

"I hurt." Gina gasped, her words like a child's.

"What's hurt, Gina?" Elba asked carefully.

"I hurt him. I hurt him." She repeated. "I hurt the golden man. I-I want him gone!"

I jumped back at her sudden outburst, again looking over my shoulder at Valentino who, as fast as lightening, embedded  his clenched fist into the wall, creating a gaping hole. His whole body shuddered, his cracked knuckles slowly knitting themselves back together. With one last look in my direction, he stormed out, slamming the door closed behind him. 

"I should go and talk to him." Elba muttered, pressing a kiss to Gina's head. "Watch her for me?"

I nodded, my tongue feeling thick and heavy in my mouth. I watched her go before looking down to find Gina peering up at me with wide eyes, a small smile on her haunting face.

"Finally, we're alone." She said.